So for my last day in Egypt I decided to go back to Tahrir Square and once again lose myself in the busy city. It worked out well also because it was a Thursday. Why Thursday? Because in Egypt Thursday and Friday is the weekend. Yep. I didn't understand it at first because I thought the weekend was Sat and Sun for every country. If anything, I thought religious countries like Egypt started the concept because under their religion god created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th (or something like that). That's one more thing on my "must-research-when-I-get-back-using-the-wonderful-internet" list.
Anyhow, walking around the city center was awesome. Hussein told me exactly what happened during the protests. From where he stood to what he saw and felt. He said told me that he couldn't move a single inch because of all the people who gathered at the square.
日本人は日本人が好きか？
時期も時期かもしれないが、エジプト人の愛国心には驚かされた。それはそれは凄い。
そしてエジプト人はエジプト以上に大切にしているものがある。それはエジプトの人間だ。自分のような観光客との接し方の違いを見るとその差はまるで天と地。現地人と一週間ともに行動して分かったのが、やはり海外で受け入れられる為にはそれなりの努力が必要だということだ。言語・習慣だけではなく、細かい仕草や気遣いまでもを習得することが大切だとここで感じた。
Luxorで二人のイギリス人に出会った。彼等はイギリスでアラビア語を勉強する現役大学４年生。４年間の努力を積んだ彼等のアラビア語はエジプトでも十分通用し、（他の観光客のように）エジプト人に騙されずに日々を過ごせるレベルだった。そんな彼等と話していて、自分が強く共感したのが彼等のこのような台詞である：「今はまだアラビア語を話せるイギリス人だ」。そう、つまり彼等はアラビア語をマスターしたことによってようやくスタート地点に立つことが出来たのかもしれない。。
簡単な例を考えてみた。日本の駅で二人の男性を見たとする：
①見るからに外国人のオッサンが野菜果実を片手に、Suicaを問題なく使いこなし改札を通っている。
②見るからに日本人のオッサンが実は海外で生まれ育ち、初めて使うSuicaの機能が分からず駅員さんに助けを求めている。
極端な例ではあるが、こういうことである。①は日本の文化や日本人の行動を時間をかけて理解し、（見た目が日本人ではなくても）観察や経験を通し社会に溶け込むことが出来ている。逆に②は見た目が日本人で完璧な日本語を話せるが、一般常識が全くなっていない。①はその後電車に乗り、２回の乗り換えを済まし、どこかのファミマで雑誌を経ち読みするであろう。逆に②は「乗り換えとは」という本を購入し、普通の倍以上の時間をかけて目的地に辿り着くかもしれない。
まぁつまり、「住まないとダメ」。。と自分が選んだ道（日本の大学へ入学）を必死に正当化しようとしているだけだ。しかし振り返るとたしかに入学当時、自分はSuicaの使い方、乗り換えの仕方、サイゼでの注文の仕方、コンビニのおにぎりの開け方（あのビーって引いて、パカッて開けるやつ）、考え方や話し方など、全てにおいてどこか足りていなかった。でも今はサイゼでミラノ風ドリアを一人で注文できるしSuicaもチャージできる。成長した（けどおにぎりのビー・パカッは諦めた）。
スーパー話が逸れたが、日本人は日本人が好きか？と感じたのは、エジプト人はエジプト人を愛しているからである。そう、全員ゲイだと見えてしまうほどだ。挨拶の時に２回頬にキスするし、町中で男二人が普通に手を繋いだり肩を組んでる。エジプト人が道に迷ったら誰に聞いても助けてくれるし、電車の中の譲り合いは日本より全然頻繁に見られる光景である。けどそれだけではない。エジプト人たちを（客観的に）見ると「クソ、おめぇいい奴じゃねぇか。。」と感じてしまう。今日、愛想激悪で奇跡的にケチなマイクロバス運転手が乗ってきた警察官が払おうとした乗車金を断った。この「お。。お前。。。」と感じさせるようなパフォーマンスやエピソードがちょいちょいエジプトにはある。なんだかんだエジプト人はエジプト人が好きなのだ。
それに比べて日本人は？．．．残念ながら日本人は日本人を愛していない。これ以上長くなる前に終わらせよう。。
Like the good days
At night, I was planning to stay home and pack my luggage for tomorrow. But after dinner (which was koshary, an traditional Egytian meal)
Ahmed invited me to go hang out with his friends. It was awesome to spend time with him on the last night because he's been so busy with his finals and the only time before that we hung out was when we went to go see the Man U v. Barca match. So he drove me out to the city where we met up with his friend Nafae, then went to a nearby restaurant (I guess the other guys who were supposed to come couldn't make it so it was the three of us). It was nice just chilling, especially because they both speak perfect english and they told me lots of things about Egypt and Egyptians that most people don't know. It was also good because both are them are same age as me, so we had similar issues in mind. So we had a nice chat over my last Kassop, which was HUGE. It was literally twice the size of the ones I've been drinking with Hussein, and I was barely able to drink it all.
After that we went over to Nafae's place for a little bit and played with his huge dog, Jesse, that looked more like a bear than a dog.. and "played" with Jesse means using Jesse to chase other dogs on the street. At around 11 we headed home. The 3 hours all together felt like I was back in high school. Driving to meet up with friends and doing nothing. Good days.
Security
So I guess I'd like to mention something about each of the country I visited so far concerning its security system.
India: Police is nearly absent in this country. I don't remember a single policemen standing on the street. I've never heard of a huge accident or massive kidnapping in India, but I'm starting to think now that, that's because no one reports it or the police just does not file it properly. I'm literally struggling trying to recall Indian police behavior right now because, well, there were none. I really think the security system itself needs to be tightened and the government needs to put more power into hands of the national police. Seems like too much power lies with the military and seldom with the police. Too much focus on protecting the country and not enough to protect people on the street.
Kenya: Contrary to India, I was amazed by the safety in Kenya. It may not be the case in every small city, but from what I saw (in Nairobi, Mombasa, and the Masai Villages) the security system were well-established and effectively functioning. There were security guards in front of every banks and ATMs (literally, every single one), guards in front of high-end shops, and even guards in front of the entrance and exit of supermarkets. Though the streets of Nairobi may still be dangerous at night, it felt like the government is doing at least the minimum to cope with it such as using security guards for preventive measures. Even in safe countries like Singapore or Japan, there's not much the government can do to prevent fights or crazy drunks on the street. The only difference is that Kenyans can be more aggressive than Singaporeans or Japanese (in some cases that's a good thing because, with Japanese guys now wearing makeups and carrying purses, 80% of the Japanese population are basically girls), and there's really not much the government can do to prevent conflicts on the streets, and the most they can do it so place sufficient amount of guards and police so they can react when something does occur. Plus, I felt that guards and police in Kenya were proud to be on duty and serving the community (something obviously different from India). Its obviously not the most exciting job (hell, I wouldn't want to sit in front of the bank all day by myself), but the fact that they are serving the society, and that they actually have a job (40% of Kenyans are unemployed) may give them the sense of responsibility and success to wear the uniform.
Egypt: Egypt is a whole different story. In my opinion the country is the most modern of the three countries I've visited so far, and respectively, the security level is high and even matches that of some Western countries. At the current time where a legitimate government is absent and all responsibility lies in military hands, it seems like the people, police, and military are cooperating to maintain peace and the status quo until the official political shift in October this year. Citizens and the police aren't the best of friends (they never were), both are trying to share the accomplishment of the historical revolution. Actually, this is my opinion based on what I've seen in Cairo and especially the Tahrir Square and the downtown area. In other areas such as Luxor is again a different issue. There is still much less policemen in such areas, and even if there were, it is much easier for them to abuse their power (which was happening in Cairo at a higher level before the revolution). For these rural areas, they may have to wait until the election and the implementation of the new constitution to see changes being made.
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